[900] The dates given are 111 B.C.-939 A.D.
[901] French scholars use a great number of accents and even new forms of letters to transcribe Annamite, but since this language has nothing to do with the history of Buddhism or Hinduism and the accurate orthography is very difficult to read, I have contented myself with a rough transcription.
[902] This is the common orthography, but Chiao Chih would be the spelling according to the system of transliterating Chinese adopted in this book.
[903] It is said that the story of the Râmâyana is found in Annamite legends (B.E.F.E.O. 1905, p. 77), and in one or two places the Annamites reverence statues of Indian deities.
[904] The most trustworthy account of Annamite religion is perhaps Dumoutier, Les Cultes Annamites, Hanoi, 1907. It was published after the author's death and consists of a series of notes rather than a general description. See also Diguet, Les Annamites, 1906, especially chap. VI.
[905] Maitreya is called Ri-lac = Chinese Mi-le. The equivalence of the syllables ri and mi seems strange, but certain. Cf. A-ri-da = Amida or O-mi-to.
[906] Pelliot (Meou-Tseu, traduit et annoté, in T'oung Pao, vol. XIX. p. 1920) gives reasons for thinking that Buddhism was prevalent in Tonkin in the early centuries of our era, but, if so, it appears to have decayed and been reintroduced. Also at this time Chiao-Chih may have meant Kuang-tung.
[907] Diguet, Les Annamites, p. 303.
[908] Maybon et Russier, L'Histoire d'Annam, p. 45.
[909] Dumoutier, Les Cultes Annamites, p. 58.